Free hourly rate calculator

How much should you charge per hour?

Most contractors price too low because they forget about overhead, unbillable time, and profit. This calculator works backward from your goals to the minimum hourly rate your business needs to charge.

What you want to pay yourself before tax.

Most field service pros bill 25-35 of 40 hours. The rest goes to driving, quoting, admin.

Trucks, fuel, insurance, software, marketing, tools — as % of salary.

Profit on top of cost — fuels growth, savings, and reinvestment.

Your minimum bill rate

$0/hr

Below this number, you're losing money.

Annual cost (salary + overhead)
$0
Billable hours per year
0
Break-even rate (no profit)
$0/hr

Tired of pricing by hand?

ServeHub builds this rate into every estimate automatically. Set your catalog once and stop second-guessing every quote.

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How the math works

Annual cost = target salary × (1 + overhead %). Divide by billable hours per year (weekly hours × 52) to get your break-even rate. Multiply by (1 + profit margin %) for your minimum bill rate.

The number this calculator returns is the floor — the rate below which you lose money. Charge above it. Shop rates, market rates, and what customers will pay are separate questions, but if you don't know your floor, you can't negotiate confidently.

Three ways most contractors get this wrong

  • Forgetting unbillable time — you don't bill 40 hrs a week, more like 25-35.
  • Treating overhead as 10% when it's usually 25-40% of salary for field-service businesses.
  • Setting profit margin at 0% because the salary already feels like profit. Margin is what funds growth.